Philadelphia getting WNBA team as part of 3-team expansion by 2030: "The W's coming"
The WNBA is finally coming to Philadelphia as part of a three-city expansion by 2030, Commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the 76ers announced Monday.
The Philly team, owned by Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which also owns the Sixers, and Comcast Spectacor, will begin play in 2030. The announcement comes months after HBSE and Comcast announced a new shared arena with the Sixers and the Flyers set to open in 2031.
"Philadelphia, the W's coming. Let's go, this is awesome," Harris said Monday. "To the city of Philly, this is your team. Philadelphia is a city about sports, and basketball in particular, including generations of extraordinary women's basketball talent, athletes who have shaped the game and inspired countless others."
"For me and the community, bringing the WNBA to Philly wasn't just nice to have. It was an obligation."
Harris said the WNBA team will give girls in the Philadelphia region a team to root for and be inspired by.
"Sports have changed my life, and I've seen them change so many other lives," Harris said. "I have two daughters, one of whom is in the audience, and I believe deeply in the power of sports to inspire, uplift and teach. Lessons that carry far beyond athletics. Now, millions of girls will have the same opportunity."
Social media accounts have been set up for the team — @. A hype video was posted shortly after the announcement, showing girls playing hoops in the city. The narrator asks two girls what they want to be when they grow up, and both say "in the WNBA," adding that they would go to games if there were a team in Philadelphia.
In the , the narrator asks a girl what Philly means to her. The girl responded, "It means home," and then the video ends with "A new home team."
Engelbert, who is from Collingswood, New Jersey, cited the growing popularity of women's basketball and the WNBA beyond the latest expansion. The three new teams all have NBA ownership groups, and each paid a $250 million expansion fee. The Philadelphia franchise will bring the WNBA to 18 teams.
Engelbert, whose father, Kurt, played basketball at St. Joseph's University and is in the Big 5 Hall of Fame, also said the HBSE's long-term commitment to making a WNBA team work in Philadelphia was a key factor.
"On behalf of the entire WNBA, I'm thrilled to welcome Cleveland and Detroit back and Philadelphia officially to the WNBA," Engelbert said. "These are proud cities with powerful sports legacies, each one rich in basketball tradition and fueled by passionate fan bases. We know they're going to show up for the W. Now, they join the most elite women's sports league in the world. It's far more than an expansion of our league. It's an evolution of it."
Last year, while the Sixers were pushing to build a new arena in Center City, Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker joined the call for the city to get a WNBA team. Parker said she believes the Sixers getting a new arena would help draw the league to Philadelphia.
"We don't have a WNBA team here in the city of Philadelphia," Parker said in September 2024. "Do any of y'all ever notice that? Y'all know y'all mayor don't like that."
In January, the Sixers' plans to build 76 Place at Market East were scrapped when the team and Comcast Spectacor announced plans for a new stadium in South Philadelphia.
During the press conference announcing the shared arena in January, Emmy-winning comedian and actress Wanda Sykes also joined the fray to declare that now is the time to bring the WNBA to Philadelphia.
Jen Leary started a year and a half ago as a way to bring people together to watch women's sports, but she also wanted to show Philadelphia that the city was ready for an WNBA team. For her, Monday's announcement feels like validation.
"Philly is a sports town, right, but we're also a women's sports town," Leary said. "So, not having a team really just felt like a slight. To have little girls now be able to ride-or-die for a women's team, to see that that much passion can go into supporting women as it does all the male athletes, it's huge."
Kevin Lynch founded Philadelphia Rise, a 17-and-under girls basketball organization in the area. Lynch thinks having a WNBA team in Philadelphia will draw more girls to the sport.
"Just having a professional team in Philadelphia will obviously help that," Lynch said. "It's going to bring it to the forefront."
Philly WNBA team will inspire young players, college athletes
In Cindy Griffin's more than 20 years at the help of St. Joe's women's basketball, only one of her players, Natasha Cloud, has made it to the WNBA through the draft.
"I'm just so excited. I mean, I think it's been a long time coming," she said.
With Philly landing a team and the league adding three new franchises, more local talent could get a shot at the pros.
"There's just so many more women that have the talent," Griffin said. "So now there's going to be more aspirations for players at the collegiate level to play professionally."
It's also aspirational for young players like the girls at the Junior 76ers camp.
"It would be a really good competition," one player said.
